I now view creation not as something that occurred long ago but as a process that continues today in which we are given the sacred privilege to participate.

“What Deb and I have found around the country is that the closer up you see the United States—the more you are at the neighborhood and community level—the more hopeful you feel.”

“What Deb and I have found around the country is that the closer up you see the United States—the more you are at the neighborhood and community level—the more hopeful you feel.”

I have good memories of my BYU experience as a student—ward activities, teaching at the MTC, intramural football games, challenging business classes, and weekly devotionals here in the Marriott Center. But I didn’t really appreciate what BYU offered until I had graduated and left the campus.

The admonitions that we receive from our leaders to attend church, pray, read the scriptures, and remain worthy of the influence of the Holy Ghost can be viewed as reminders to regularly correct our courses by reference to divine standards.

Our commitment should be to be educated well—broadly with a humility that opens us to the widest possibilities for knowledge and hopefully, with an eye to how learning can enable us to contribute to a better future, not just for ourselves but for all the world.

Brigham Young died with the name Joseph upon his lips. He spoke of him and his work in these words: “I honor and revere the name of Joseph Smith. I delight to hear it; I love it.

If I can, I should like to challenge those who attend this institution to broaden their vision, rather than to limit it, so that there might be no lost horizons for any of the graduates of this great university.

The golden pathway to happiness is the selfless giving of love—the kind of love that has concern and interest and some measure of charity for every living soul.

Our testimonies can be strengthened and fortified and our lives given greater purpose every time we read and reread our patriarchal blessings.

Each has to receive his own witness concerning Jesus as the Christ. I wish this morning to set my seal upon this knowledge.

You will not be able to travel through life on borrowed light. The light of life must be part of your very being. The voice you must learn to heed is the voice of the Spirit.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in our heart of hearts, and, when it is in our hearts as individuals, it will also be in our great buildings of worship, in our great educational institutions, in our magnificent temples, and it will also be in our homes and families.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be in our hearts, and, when it is in our individual hearts, it will also be in our great buildings of worship, in our lovely educational institutions, and in our magnificent temples, as well as in our homes and families.

“I believe, as you study the scriptures, you’ll come to really know, not of the Savior, but really know him.”

Those brave souls left us a legacy and a rich heritage. No amount of money could purchase what they freely gave. It cost life and limb. It cost great suffering and the most severe kind of heartache imaginable. Theirs was the noblest gift—that of love.

Life will be hard but wonderful. You will be tested, but you will win. Enjoy the process of life. And in a lot of years you will look back and realize you have had a wonderful one.

To whom shall we go if not to him? Where in all the world? In whom could we put our trust? Where could we find the peace that surpasseth understanding?

BYU is here to help all of us serve the world better. Look for opportunities in your life to be the one who makes the difference in the life of another. Bring light and goodness wherever you are through your service.

Just like waiting until the clock reads double zero, you have prepared for the proper educational plays, emerged victorious, and received your hard-earned degree.

Just like waiting until the clock reads double zero, you have prepared for the proper educational plays, emerged victorious, and received your hard-earned degree.

BYU is here to help us all serve the world better. Look for opportunities in your life to be the one who makes the difference in the life of another. Bring light and goodness wherever you are through your service.

There are certain rules on this earth that are critically important not only to our temporal journey but to our eternal journey as well.

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that have shaped our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that impact our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that have shaped our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

Our BYU stories have played a major role in shaping us. We all leave this place with memories and experiences that impact our future for good and serve as a springboard for the next phase of life.

This Christmas season I invite each of us to foster and care more for the child of God within us and bend to the exigencies of life and finances less—to take joy in the wonderful and simple journey to be the child that is like those who make up the kingdom of God.

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be liberated from sin on condition of repentance. There is no greater liberation.

When he discovered the power of stories, Michael Flaherty used his love of teaching and of God to build a film company devoted to spreading good.

As the Church continues to expand, especially in foreign lands, the percentage of members who are literal descendants of the pioneers decreases, but I believe that those who bind themselves to this great work that the pioneers began are somehow spiritually adopted and become descendants of those noble forbears.

Cairns are placed on trails to guide us across trail segments that are unclear and difficult to find. I have described three spiritual cairns today that can help guide you safely through mortality: scriptures, prophets, and temples.

Perhaps one of my messages today is to learn from our family histories. Both Howard and Harvey were born in large families in small towns. One became an internationally known scientist, bearing his testimony to large numbers of people throughout his life and while working in New York City. The other quietly served a mission, raised a family, worked hard on a farm in Victor, Idaho, and served the Lord with all of his heart whenever called. Perhaps in the eyes of the world one was great and one was relatively obscure. However, in the eyes of the Lord, I think that both were good. Both were valiant servants of our Lord Jesus Christ throughout their lives.

The promise of a higher education at BYU not only includes the highest quality instruction and meaningful research but also includes the direct influence of heaven. The BYU experience aims to develop faith, intellect, and Christlike character in a quest that will ultimately—in the far distant future—lead to perfection.

I know some of you are tired. You are not sure you can keep at it. You go ahead and find some stillness today. Gather your strength today. Rest up today, because tomorrow we ride for Zion. And it is not quite Zion if you are not there.

This is your turn on earth. In eternal time, it is like a minute. There are only sixty seconds in it. We can’t refuse it. But it is up to us to use it.

Let us continue to do what we have learned from our university experience and seek out truth and understanding everywhere it can be found.

Having peace all of the time sounds like a noble project. Knowing that restrictions apply to having peace, though, means that you and I, who could use an additional measure of it in our lives, need to be striving to live in a way that qualifies us.

Amid all our mortal gloom and doom, Jesus Christ has overcome the world. Come, let us rejoice.

You are the clay—and as such you are of utmost importance to the Lord. He loves you and desires to shape you into a magnificent vessel of honor—designed and glazed for all eternity.

We can struggle up the mountainside of life, observing, learning, internalizing, and acquiring spiritual character that will position us on the mountain peak of spiritual peace and prosperity.